She carefully resisted the urge to make a comparison to the story of David and Goliath, or simply to point out that as the saying goes, "the bigger they come, the harder they fall". Instead, she took that moment to center herself, sensing intuitively all the possible ways her own competitiveness could get out of hand, and all the ways she might not be inclined to keep a lid on it with the considerably unusual mood she was in at the moment.

Think out your plan like a woman of action. Act out your plan like a woman of thought. If she wasn't careful, she'd find herself leaping into this one like a woman of action on both fronts, and she'd find herself paying the price for it, too. Let him be a decent man concerned for the welfare of a stranger offering to do him a favor. There was nothing insulting or condescending about that, not in his voice and not in his intent.

(And blast her competitiveness, sometimes, that might've wanted to make it so.)

"I suppose we'll find out one way or another, won't we?" she answered, holding her ground (physical and mental) with a slight smile of her own. "But either way, I doubt either of us will stay...distracted."

Which, in the end, was the problem.

She liked to solve problems.

"A clearing sounds much better suited for our purposes," she added in agreement. "Please, lead the way."